No Phone Pledge | Adoption Support Center (Indianapolis, IN)

Why we signed the No Phone Zone pledge

I lost my adoptive daughter, Lauren, age 20, in a tragic auto accident on October 15, 2004. She crossed the highway median and hit a semi head on. We will never know what distracted her, but her nightly routine was to use her cellphone to talk with her favorite aunt for the hour-long commute home. It was a fiery crash. The kind that closes down an interstate for hours and makes the evening news. Firemen searched for hours in the cornfields, ditches, and trees. There was an empty car seat in the back, and they were concerned a child had been thrown free.

An adoptee herself, Lauren was the catalyst for my creating The Adoption Support Center. She was an employee at my agency along with her big sister. A passionate young mother, she hoped to run the Center one day. This particular night had been an anniversary dinner with her husband in the “big city.” Diet Coke and steaks. Luckily her 15-month-old son had been left with us, his grandparents, for the night.

The Center opened its doors January 1, 1986. We haven't had “Oprah” success, but today we did receive a call from our 4723rd new birth mom. As much as we have done right, we need to make a huge change. I love my staff of 12 passionate girls like my own daughters and I feel have put them at risk. As they drive tirelessly every day from Indy to East Chicago, Indy to Evansville, Indy to South Bend, caring for birth moms and adoptive couples in crisis, they text, call and counsel. They multi-task. And not about small things - about life-changing things. They are at risk.

So today, September 20, 2010, the Center made a change. We all signed the No Phone Zone Pledge, in honor of Lauren. So, if you call or text a counselor's cell phone, know there might be a delay, caused by a new corporate policy that keeps them safe. You can ALWAYS call the office for immediate attention at 1-800-274-1084 or 317-255-5916.

To see the lives Oprah might have saved today, visit our Staff page. To learn more about Lauren, please visit her memorial page.

~Julie Craft

We encourage everyone to take the No Phone Zone pledge, too!
Please visit Oprah's No Phone Zone website, watch the videos, read the testimonials, and take the pledge today.